Major League Baseball is approaching quickly, and with spring training underway it is a perfect time to look back at the 2024 offseason and revisit some of the biggest signings and title contenders for 2025.
The Los Angeles Dodgers were crowned World Series Champions last year, and they look to win another with their impressive signings from the 2024 free agent class. The biggest headliner is obviously Japanese pitcher Rōki Sasaki, a 23 year old, right handed pitcher with seemingly unlimited potential. Sasaki played in the Japanese league for four years, officially signing with the Dodgers this offseason. In those four years, Sasaki had a career earned run average (ERA) of 2.02 and a combined 524 strikeouts (Baseball Reference). Sasaki is MLB’s number one prospect, a title that players like Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Corey Seager also shared. In addition, his contract is ideal for the Dodgers. MLB.com explains, “because Sasaki is younger than 25 years old, he is considered an amateur international free agent, meaning he comes with six years of club control and will earn a rookie salary in 2025 (The Athletic)”. Keeping Sasaki on his rookie contract opens many more contract opportunities for the Dodgers. In order to take advantage of this, the Dodgers added pitcher Blake Snell to their already legendary rotation. The two time Cy Young winner, with a career ERA of 3.19, looks to continue his all time great career with the insane Dodgers starting rotation. The bullpen got a slight upgrade as well with the addition of reliever Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott, and the resigning of All-Star outfielder Teoscar Hernández will keep him with the team for at least three more years. Due to these massive signings, the Los Angeles Dodgers should be in title contention for many more years to come.
The New York Mets had arguably the best offseason, in part because they handed out the biggest baseball contract of all time to four time All Star Juan Soto. Soto signed a gigantic 15 year deal making 51 million dollars a year on top of his 75 million signing bonus. Last year was debatably Soto’s best, as he batted .288 and hit 41 home runs en route to take home a Silver Slugger Award (Baseball Reference). Not only did the Mets sign Soto, but they also re-signed first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonzo, coming off his sixth season, is a four time All Star and has been a key piece on the Mets ever since he joined the team. He signed for 54 million dollars over two years, which will make him 32 by the end of his contract. However, the Mets are not done yet. The Mets bolstered their pitching room by signing Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, A.J. MInter and Clay Holmes. All four of these pitchers, along with their other signings, should allow the Mets to compete for a World Series in 2025.
The New York Yankees are one of sports most prestigious franchises, and they used that prestige to sign Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried. Fried has a career ERA of just 3.01 and may be the piece the Yankees have been looking for to get back to their first World Series since 2009. On the other hand, the Yankees took a massive hit this offseason with the loss of Juan Soto. This adds to their glaring kryptonite on the offensive front. Hitters that played over 50 games for the Yankees in 2024 only averaged .238 (yankees.com). Take away Aaron Judge and Juan Soto and they were batting .227. Obviously this is not above average. Even with Judge and Soto the Yankees were 22 in the MLB (MLB.com). The Yankees had a massive need for better hitters, so they went out and got them. Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt were brought in with Juan Soto’s shoes to fill, and their .260 and .290 averages should at least improve the Yankees statistics (MLB.com). Just these signings would have been fine for most fans, but the best was saved for last. Devin Williams is an All Star closer with an insane career ERA of 1.83. The two time All Star and Reliever Of The Year was brought in by the Yankees after the loss of closer Clay Holmes. Clay Holmes leaving must have been tough for Yankees fans, but that loss is definitely easier when a reliever like Devin Williams is what you get in return. With all these moves, only time will tell if the 16 year World Series drought will be lifted.
The Boston Red Sox are the final title contender on this list, and they too made multiple big splashes in the free agent market. The Red Sox were one of the most disappointing teams last season due to their massive falloff towards the end of the regular season, but they look to avoid that fate again with the signing of superstar Alex Bregman, Aroldis Chapman, and the blockbuster trade for Garrett Crochet. Infielder Alex Bregman won the AL Gold Glove Award last year and tallied his third highest home run total of his career (MLB.com). Bregman is just nine home runs away from 200 in his career and plans to be a contributing factor on a World Series winning team. On the other side, historic pitcher Aroldis Chapman is now joining his seventh Major League team looking to continue his outstanding career at 37 years old. The seven time All Star nicknamed “The Missile” holds the record for fastest pitch speed thrown of all time, clocking in at 105.8 mph. Not only does he hold that record, but he has nine placements on the top 10 fastest pitches in the stat-cast era, including one at 36 years old (Foxsports). Chapman should bring real contributions to this Red Sox team, but the golden goose of the Red Sox’s offseason is 25 year old pitcher Garrett Crochet. Crochet was one of the only bright spots for the legendary failure that the 2024 White Sox were, and his breakout season resulted in a trade to the Red Sox for multiple high value prospects. With all these additions the Red Sox should be in title contention, and anything less would be another disappointing season.
More blockbuster signings include the Braves signing Jurickson Profar, the Guardians signing Josh Naylor and Shane Bieber, Reds trading Rookie of the Year Jonathan India for Brady Singer, Rays signing Ha-Seong Kim and Eloy Jiménez, Cubs trading Issac Paredes for All Star Kyle Tucker, Giants signing Willy Adames and veteran Justin Verlander, Blue Jays signing Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and Silver Slugger Anthony Santander, Astros signing Christain Walker and Issac Paredes, Tigers signing Jack Flaherty and the Diamondbacks signing the 2021 NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burns.
